Slaughter reintroduces bill to boost manufacturing

Rep. Louise Slaughter on Thursday reintroduced the Reciprocal Market Access Act—a bill she said would benefit manufacturers in Rochester and across the nation—at a manufacturing summit in Rochester.

Slaughter, D-Perinton, a member of the bipartisan House Manufacturing Caucus, said the bill would support American manufacturing jobs and level the playing field for American workers by requiring the elimination of foreign market barriers before reducing U.S. tariffs.

The legislation, first introduced in 2007, provides additional leverage for the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that trade negotiations fully address the market access problems faced by U.S. producers, Slaughter’s office said.

“I was not sent to Congress to ship American jobs overseas,” Slaughter said in a statement. “It is time to pass the Reciprocal Market Access Act so that we can stop another dangerous free trade agreement from becoming law. It is time to end the era of giveaway trade, and we need to pass this bill to help American manufacturers create jobs, and revitalize our economy now and for generations to come.”

The Rochester Technology and Manufacturing Association, the Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Association, the Manufacturers Association of Central New York and the Coalition for a Prosperous America presented the one-day summit on the issues confronting manufacturing growth with the intent of developing a consensus on the policies that will help strengthen manufacturing.